Raw material quality and Oldowan hominin toolstone preferences: evidence from Kanjera South, Kenya

Braun, David R.; Plummer, Thomas W.; Ferraro, Joseph V.; Ditchfield, Peter; Bishop, Laura C.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.03.025

Cited by 169 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…The attrition of tool edges during butchery is something that has previously been highlighted [16,23,24]. Here we show that this attrition is related to the opening angle of a cut mark.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Cut marks on bone surfaces: influences on variation in the form of traces of ancient behaviour

2016

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Although we know that our lineage has been producing sharp-edged tools for over 2.6 Myr, our knowledge of what they were doing with these tools is far less complete. Studies of these sharp-edged stone tools show that they were most probably used as cutting implements. However, the only substantial evidence of this is the presence of cut marks on the bones of animals found in association with stone tools in ancient deposits. Numerous studies have aimed to quantify the frequency and placement of these marks. At present there is little consensus on the meaning of these marks and how the frequency relates to specific behaviours in the past. Here we investigate the possibility that mechanical properties associated with edges of stone tools as well as the properties of bones themselves may contribute to the overall morphology of these marks and ultimately their placement in the archaeological record. Standardized tests of rock mechanics (Young's modulus and Vickers hardness) indicate that the hardness of tool edges significantly affects cut-mark morphology. In addition, we show that indentation hardness of bones also impacts the overall morphology of cut marks. Our results show that rock type and bone portions influence the shape and prevalence of cut marks on animal bones.

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“…The attrition of tool edges during butchery is something that has previously been highlighted [16,23,24]. Here we show that this attrition is related to the opening angle of a cut mark.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Cut marks on bone surfaces: influences on variation in the form of traces of ancient behaviour

2016

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“…We developed a generalizable model, the predictive power of which could in potential be applied to any flake which retains a platform. While a number of previous studies have demonstrated the ability of platform attributes to estimate flake size (Braun et al 2009;Braun et al 2006;Clarkson and Hiscock 2011;Dibble and Rezek 2009;Lin et al 2013;Magnani et al 2014;Rezek et al 2011), the prediction of flake shape using platform landmark configurations represents a new departure. We were able to predict the three major components of flake shape variation-accounting for >72% shape variance in the sample-reasonably well.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other research has emphasized the importance of variables which were exclusively associated with platform manipulation, such as platform size and exterior platform angle (EPA), particularly with regard to control of the size and economization of knapped products (Braun et al 2009;Braun et al 2006;Dibble and Rezek 2009;Lin et al 2013;Magnani et al 2014;Rezek et al 2011). The development of alternative approaches to evaluating how flake variability can be translated back into human decisions, and actions may help to evaluate some of the current explanations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A geometric morphometric relationship predicts stone flake shape and size variability

Archer

Pop

Režek

et al. 2017

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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The archaeological record represents a window onto the complex relationship between stone artefact variance and hominin behaviour. Differences in the shapes and sizes of stone flakes-the most abundant remains of past behaviours for much of human evolutionary history-may be underpinned by variation in a range of different environmental and behavioural factors. Controlled flake production experiments have drawn inferences between flake platform preparation behaviours, which have thus far been approximated by linear measurements, and different aspects of overall stone flake variability (Dibble and Rezek J Archaeol Sci 36:1945-1954 Lin et al. Am Antiq 724-745, 2013; Magnani et al. J Archaeol Sci 46:37-49, 2014; Rezek et al. J Archaeol Sci 38:1346-1359, 2011. However, when the results are applied to archaeological assemblages, there remains a substantial amount of unexplained variability. It is unclear whether this disparity between explanatory models and archaeological data is a result of measurement error on certain key variables, whether traditional analyses are somehow a general limiting factor, or whether there are additional flake shape and size drivers that remain unaccounted for. To try and circumvent these issues, here, we describe a shape analysis approach to assessing stone flake variability including a newly developed three-dimensional geometric morphometric method ('3DGM'). We use 3DGM to demonstrate that a relationship between platform and flake body governs flake shape and size variability. Contingently, we show that by using this 3DGM approach, we can use flake platform attributes to both (1) make fairly accurate stone flake size predictions and (2) make relatively detailed predictions of stone flake shape. Whether conscious or instinctive, an understanding of this geometric relationship would have been critical to past knappers effectively controlling the production of desired stone flakes. However, despite being able to holistically and accurately incorporate three-dimensional flake variance into our analyses, the behavioural drivers of this variance remain elusive.

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“…Raw material transport is also being actively reinterpreted on the basis of new work at a range of East African sites (see Braun, 2012 for a review). Both short and long distance transport is suggested in a variety of different site contexts, as is a much higher focus on raw material selection and assessment by hominins from early Oldowan times (Isaac and Isaac , 1997;Leakey, 1971;Braun et al, 2008a;Braun et al, 2009;de la Torre and Mora, 2005;Diez-Martin et al, 2010). At Koobi Fora it is possible that there is an increase in transport activity after the appearance of Homo erectus (Braun et al, 2009).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both short and long distance transport is suggested in a variety of different site contexts, as is a much higher focus on raw material selection and assessment by hominins from early Oldowan times (Isaac and Isaac , 1997;Leakey, 1971;Braun et al, 2008a;Braun et al, 2009;de la Torre and Mora, 2005;Diez-Martin et al, 2010). At Koobi Fora it is possible that there is an increase in transport activity after the appearance of Homo erectus (Braun et al, 2009). At Sterkfontein transport behaviours certainly change in the Acheulean breccia (Kuman and Clarke, 2000), and the Acheulean in Member 5…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental stone tool replication at the Early Stone Age site of Sterkfontein, Gauteng, South Africa

McNabb

Kuman

2015

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Abstract.Between 1999 and 2000 a large experimental knapping programme was carried out at the early hominin site of Sterkfontein, South Africa. Its purpose was to assess aspects of the technology of lithic production found in the Oldowan and Acheulean deposits at the site. The data was used to inform technological analysis of the Sterkfontein stone tool assemblages. In the light of more recent research on raw material selection and transport at East African Oldowan sites, we report on the conclusions drawn from the analysis of the experimental cores to assess their contribution to understanding the influence of raw materials on knapping in the Oldowan and Acheulean at Sterkfontein. Hominins practised raw material selectivity and adapted their knapping strategies to fit clast shape and lithology. The experimental programme offered the opportunity to analyse some of the variables commonly involved in reconstructing lithic behaviour from artefacts and found, as with other studies reported elsewhere, that linear relationships based on one, or a few supposedly diagnostic variables do not stand up to scrutiny. Sterkfontein is one of a series of sites from the Cradle of Humankind WorldHeritage Site in Gauteng, South Africa (Kuman, 2007). Currently it is one of the best dated Oldowan and Early Acheulean localities in South Africa (Clarke, 2006;Granger et al., 2015;Herries and Shaw, 2011;Kuman and Clarke, 2000), and has the largest Oldowan assemblage yet recovered from this region (Kuman and Clarke, 2000;Kuman and Field, 2009). The Oldowan was excavated from Member 5 east breccia (Oldowan infill). The Acheulean was excavated from two locations, the Member 5 east Acheulean, overlying the Oldowan infill, and Member 5 west breccia. The Oldowan has been recently redated to 2.18 mya and the Acheulean is currently dated to 1.7-1.4 mya (Granger et al., 2015;Kuman, 2007). Detailed stratigraphies and descriptions of the lithic assemblages are provided elsewhere (Field, 1999;Kuman, 2007;Kuman and Clarke, 2000;Kuman and Field, 2009;Kuman et al., 2005;Stratford et al., 2012). The experimental knapping programme and its research aims. 4Between 1999 and 2000 a large knapping programme was instigated in order to explore aspects of the relationship between the raw materials used at the site and the knapping techniques involved in producing Oldowan and Acheulean cores and flakes. These data contributed to technological analysis and description of the Sterkfontein assemblages published elsewhere (Kuman and Field, 2009;Kuman et al., 2005).More recently, the notion of the Oldowan as having been an industry that heavily exploited mostly local raw material resources has been significantly challenged by increasing evidence for the careful selection and transport of specific raw materials over considerable distances (Harmand 2008), as well as a greater selection of specific local raw materials closer to sites. These behaviours have a considerable time depth -from as early as 2.34 mya at Lokalalei, West Turkana, Kenya, and only slightly later e...

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Raw material quality and Oldowan hominin toolstone preferences: evidence from Kanjera South, Kenya

Cited by 169 publications

References 79 publications

Cut marks on bone surfaces: influences on variation in the form of traces of ancient behaviour

Cut marks on bone surfaces: influences on variation in the form of traces of ancient behaviour

A geometric morphometric relationship predicts stone flake shape and size variability

Experimental stone tool replication at the Early Stone Age site of Sterkfontein, Gauteng, South Africa

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